Cooking for a crowd of fifteen

[TwoMisfits]

Last thing - lunches...again, I'm gonna post a very budget-friendly option...

Since you can freeze them for months, I'd do batch soups and have soups as the main lunch option (with a matching "crunch" option for each soup, whether it's a cracker, crusty bread, nut topping, etc). I'd have one soup/day and make 1-2 of the week's soups vegan (there are so many options here) and I'd have the same back up meals options from dinner if someone hates the day's soup (so leftovers, PBJ, or chicken tenders)...

My mom ALWAYS did her white bean and ham bone soup, and it was one of her only good recipes...but here are the best types of options to freeze and you can pick and choose what you like...and this way, breakfast is prebought and self-serve, and lunch is premade and warmed up, so you really are just down to working on dinner each day...

https://www.thekitchn.com/the-5-best-types-of-soups-to-freeze-tips-from-the-kitchn-214854

 

[usnuzuloose]

on pinterest there are recipes for breakfast caserolls. Make ahead and put them in the oven in the morning.
So many good vegan, vegetarian, meat stuff on there.

 

[QueenIsabella]

Since this is "multiple family members from all over the world"--why not contact them now, and encourage each group to come prepared to make one of their special dishes? Obviously, ingredients would be purchased locally, but they're the ones that are going to have the time to cook. And it's a great opportunity for them to showcase their cuisine or at least their famous dishes--we all have them. And think about how the kids would enjoy trying Grandma's goulash with honey cakes for dessert, or Aunt Jen's bangers and mash with a nice trifle afterwards. They don't have to be international/ethnic dishes--a couple of my greatest hits are super quick and easy.

You've gotten some good suggestions on meals, but the burden shouldn't be just on you. It's likely that daily shopping will be in order, mostly because your fridge is going to get a workout. But, you shouldn't have to come home from work and cook for 15, that's nuts.

 

[sk8jdgca]

Instead of Tacos, why not have a build your own Mexican evening. Put out hard and soft shells as well as chips, chicken, beef, lettuce, and all the toppings. If you just make the chicken shredded, people can make any thing. In case the older people dont like Mexican seasoning. They can just make a salad with chicken. Have some beans out for the vegan too.

 

[Katy Belle]

I think for a few nights I’d do super easy.
Grilled chicken breasts (on a grill pan on the stove), couscous, steamed broccoli, bread.
Grilled thin pork chops (on a grill pan on the stove, stove top stuffing, steamed green beans, bread.
Sloppy joes in the crock pot, canned baked beans, chips, watermelon.

I guess what I’m saying is to think of things that don’t require a recipe. Just easy, good food.

Baked potatoes...easy to bake 15 at a time. You could do that twice in two weeks. One meal as a side with steaks, or pork steaks, etc. And one meal topped with chili, or ham and cheese, or leftover grilled chicken, etc.

 

[sjrec]

One very large or two smaller spiral sliced hams-deli salads, baked beans, Mac and cheese (Costco’s is delicious). Those big, bagged chopped salads. Definitely pizza and salad one night-even if you do takeout, you could get a vegan option from the grocery store. Those giant tubs of ice cream for dessert.
Hard boiled eggs done the night before-put them in a muffin tin 30 minutes in a 350 oven. Plunge in cold water when you take them out. Great to put out with your continental breakfast.
Sounds exhausting, but fun!

 

[Hikergirl]

One very large or two smaller spiral sliced hams-deli salads, baked beans, Mac and cheese (Costco’s is delicious). Those big, bagged chopped salads. Definitely pizza and salad one night-even if you do takeout, you could get a vegan option from the grocery store. Those giant tubs of ice cream for dessert.
Hard boiled eggs done the night before-put them in a muffin tin 30 minutes in a 350 oven. Plunge in cold water when you take them out. Great to put out with your continental breakfast.
Sounds exhausting, but fun!

Just adding to this since the OP mentioned she has an instant pot, you can do hard boiled eggs in there in about 10 minutes.

 

[powellrj]

I would do some meals that can be used for a couple of meals. Do a ham one night and then you can have leftover ham sandwiches. The same with a turkey.

Cook chicken on the grill and cook extra and you have chicken for salad topping or chicken salad.

Pasta is easy to serve a large group and add a salad.

A huge pork shoulder could be pulled pork one day and bbq sandwiches the next night.

I would have a large pot of soup with deli meat for lunches. You can always add fruit and chips or cheese and crackers. Maybe do a baked potato bar one day.

For breakfast, overnight oatmeal in the crockpot, overnight rolls, 6 week muffins, biscuits and gravy or biscuits sandwiches and you can always have casseroles and dry cereals.

 

[arminnie]

One of my favorite things to do is to cook a big ham. I'll have some ham steaks with sweet potatoes (baked is our favorite) and greens (Margaret Holmes canned greens are great) for the first meal. Then I will use the ham for sandwiches, ham and egg breakfasts, ham salad or deviled ham for lunches, etc. Ham in breakfast casseroles and then use the ham bone to flavor beans. Ham and potato soup is another option. Now a single ham won't provide that many options for 15 people, but it will probably provide a couple of them.

 

[tcufrog]

I’m a big fan of buffets or bars for large groups. I’ve successfully done taco, sandwich (with a hot George Foreman grill for paninis) and baked potato bars.

 

[Eureka]

I don’t have much to add to what everyone has already said but I hope if your guests are staying that long, they’ll take you out for a meal or two.

 

[LovesTimone]

Okay.... 15 people for 2 weeks... that's a lot of meals.

I would start with a whole ham.. this way you should have a lot of left overs for sandwiches the next couple of days.

You could also make Turkey and all the fixins one night on the weekend.. and have left overs for lunch the next week.

Roast a few chickens pull off the bone basic salt and pepper only - prepare and season part for chicken burrito's or chicken nachos - use the other part for shredded BBQ chicken sandwiches this can be frozen thaw, warm up and eat..slice some for sandwiches, or to add to a salad... or homemade chicken salad.

Meatloaf mix, shape and freeze ... I do just a basic meatloaf, no veggies added they get kinda gross, you could make a mushroom gravy to go with

Make a bunch of Baked potatoes... for meals and can be used as lunch the next day- or make scalloped potatoes out of the left overs, even mashed potatoes. Wash, and put them on a cookie sheet to bake... you can do a lot of potatoes like this.

I would keep some salad sides on hand - potato, macaroni/pasta, coleslaw, for main meals and something besides chips for lunch.

Stuffed shells, Lasagna, baked spaghetti... they all can be serve with a green salad, garlic bread

Corn on the cob, leftover can be cut off and added to a black bean salad or veggie rice

Have banana's and apples on hand - or whatever is seasonal that has a good shelf life, as well as baby carrots, celery sticks, pickles, olives,

Make ahead and freeze muffins, pound cake, coffee cake

Make sausage with onions and pepper on rolls- the sausage can be used for breakfast the next day.

Extra bags of ice....

With all these people... You need to assign tasks to everyone... who's take out the garbage, washing towels, cleaning up the bathrooms, cleaning the kitchen, loading and unloading the dishwasher, picking the living room, let everyone know where the broom and mop are if something gets broken or spilled, and well where the bathroom plunger is, each of my bathrooms has a plunger next to the toilet, keeps guest from being embarrassed.

As well as stock up, on paper towels, toilet tissue, laundry detergent ( I would go the pods route to cut down on waste), dish washer tabs... Let everyone know where its kept at.

 

[TwoMisfits]

One last thing (until I remember another one)...simple and cheap dinner veg (and fruit) sides...

When you have the grilled chicken, grilled burgers, lasagna, etc...people are still gonna want a side dish, so here are a few ideas that are easy to expand to lots of folks without a lot of work (using the seasonal vegs)...

1. Corn on the Cob - grill it, microwave it, steam it...doesn't matter what - and serve with butter and salt. Make 15 and be done.
2. Cucumber Dill Salad - Seed and chop lots of cucumbers - put in rice or white wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, dill, and a touch of sugar to taste...put in the fridge to come together for an hour or more - done!
3. Coleslaw - Buy the predone bags and some predone dressing - that way, you can keep it from getting overdressed and from sitting too early...and done
4. Caprese Salad - Layer raw tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil and drizzle with balsamic, olive oil, s&p - done
5. Roasted Honey Balsamic Baby Carrots - dump bags of baby carrots on a pan and use olive oil and s&p to taste - bake 30 minutes at 350 and flip..continue cooking til "your doneness" - some love a crisp, some want them totally soft...5 minutes before you want them done, add a drizzle of honey, balsamic, or both...can be served hot or room temp
6. Watermelon - fancy it up with feta, lime juice, mint, olive oil, and s&p as a watermelon feta salad (now this is best served right away) or just dice it up and serve it as fresh watermelon cubes - you can pre-prep the dice and just store it
7. Freeze-ahead Vegan Baked Beans - this will keep in the fridge 5 days after 1st use, so it's perfect to serve with burgers/dogs/BBQ and then have it around with some microwave rice for the vegan to have as a main meal when you are doing a meat meal https://avirtualvegan.com/vegan-barbecue-baked-beans/ or one you can do in the crockpot (make sure you buy vegan BBQ sauce to add - http://mycaliforniaroots.com/vegetarian-slow-cooker-baked-beans/)
8. Grilled Zucchini (or Summer Squash) - on grill night, just add these quartered or cut in circles to the grill top with olive oil, s&p, and whatever seasoning you like - cheap and easy
EDIT - 9. Spring Peas with Mint (so good and frozen peas work - you make it and leave it at room temp for an hour to do something else - easy recipe for kids to make) - http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/spring-peas-with-mint

Now, I avoided potato/pasta salad b/c I think you'll be using these a lot in main courses, so you won't want to double it or have the guests get sick of it...

 

[kid-at-heart]

Such great ideas! Yes, this group will chip in and buy/make meals but I want to at least have a game plan. We plan to put the younger ones in charge of appetizers, the vegan in charge of vegan dishes, and the 92 year old in charge of supervising. The more prep I can have done ahead of time, bought items or frozen items, the more time for visiting, plus I am a planner and would be way too stressed if I left all of this until the last minute.

 

[arminnie]

This recipe is great for a hearty breakfast casserole that can be made ahead of time with leftover ham.
https://pocketchangegourmet.com/hashbrown-casserole-with-ham/

 

[Sagginit]

I would also look into "bowls" which are all the rage these days lol. You can cook some starches as bases (quinoa, rices, pasta, etc). They can be topped with themes of sides. I have done roasted veggies (peppers, onions, squash, tomatoes) with fresh greens, cheese, and grilled chicken. You can do a burrito style one with beans for vegans. You can do an asian theme with lots of stir fry veggies and then shrimp/tofu cooked in soy sauce marinades. Any meals where people build their own help a lot when you have different dietary demands. For breakfast I would do fruit/yogurt bar with maybe some eggs, bagels, and one meat (bacon I think is good to cook ahead of time but frozen sausage can also be microwaved).

If you can still find any after Easter sales stock up on paper goods and candies that could be crushed up for ice cream sundae bars